The present description relates to a color notation system for identifying colors and the application of color notation systems in color display and selection systems.
Color identification systems are typically used in various sectors, including for example the paint industry, to uniquely identify colors. There are a variety of categories of color notation systems currently in use. For example, in one category of color notation system, color notation is based on a serial number with or without alpha characters as prefix or postfix. An example of a serial number based system includes the RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification e.V. notation system which includes a four-digit number in combination with the letters “RAL” (e.g. RAL 1028). The first digit is a system code number (1: yellow, 2: orange, 3: red, 4: violet, 5: blue, 6: green, 7: grey, 8: brown and 9: white and black shades). The remaining three digits are chosen sequentially. The name of a color shade (e.g. melon yellow for RAL 1028) is an auxiliary designation.
In another category of color notation system, color notation is based on a color order system. An example of such a system is the Munsell color-order system that is accepted by many industries including the art, design, color photography, television, printing, paint, textiles and plastics industries. It is recognized as a standard system of color specification by numerous standards bodies (for example, as standard Z138.2 of the American National Standards Institute). A Munsell color notation is composed of 3 components: Munsell Hue, Munsell Value and Munsell Chroma.
Yet another category of color notation system is color notation based on the CIELAB color system. An example of this is the RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification e. V. “The RAL DESIGN System”, which uses an initial three digits to identify the hue H, a following pair of digits to define the lightness L, and a second pair of digits to identify a chroma C. For example, the RAL DESIGN System color 270 30 20 is a dark blue with a hue H of 270, a lightness L of 30 and a chroma C of 20.
One issue with existing color notation systems is their inability to enable an individual to imagine or fully appreciate what kind of color the color code really represents.